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PMID |
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TITLE |
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Has the "Equal Environments" assumption been tested in twin studies? |
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ABSTRACT |
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A recurring criticism of the twin method for quantifying genetic and environmental components of human differences is the necessity of the so-called "equal environments assumption" (EEA) (i.e., that monozygotic and dizygotic twins experience equally correlated environments). It has been proposed to test the EEA by stratifying twin correlations by indices of the amount of shared environment. However, relevant environments may also be influenced by genetic differences. We present a model for the role of genetic factors in niche selection by twins that may account for variation in indices of the shared twin environment (e.g., contact between members of twin pairs). Simulations reveal that stratification of twin correlations by amount of contact can yield spurious evidence of large shared environmental effects in some strata and even give false indications of genotype x environment interaction. The stratification approach to testing the equal environments assumption may be misleading and the results of such tests may actually be consistent with a simpler theory of the role of genetic factors in niche selection. |
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DATE PUBLISHED |
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HISTORY |
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PUBSTATUS |
PUBSTATUSDATE |
pubmed |
2004/02/18 05:00 |
medline |
2004/03/25 05:00 |
entrez |
2004/02/18 05:00 |
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AUTHORS |
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NAME |
COLLECTIVENAME |
LASTNAME |
FORENAME |
INITIALS |
AFFILIATION |
AFFILIATIONINFO |
Eaves L |
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Eaves |
Lindon |
L |
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Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia 23298-0003, USA. eaves@hsc.vcu.edu |
Foley D |
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Foley |
Debra |
D |
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Silberg J |
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Silberg |
Judy |
J |
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INVESTIGATORS |
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JOURNAL |
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VOLUME: 6 |
ISSUE: 6 |
TITLE: Twin research : the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies |
ISOABBREVIATION: Twin Res |
YEAR: 2003 |
MONTH: Dec |
DAY: |
MEDLINEDATE: |
SEASON: |
CITEDMEDIUM: Print |
ISSN: 1369-0523 |
ISSNTYPE: Print |
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MEDLINE JOURNAL |
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MEDLINETA: Twin Res |
COUNTRY: Australia |
ISSNLINKING: 1369-0523 |
NLMUNIQUEID: 9815819 |
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PUBLICATION TYPE |
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PUBLICATIONTYPE TEXT |
Journal Article |
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. |
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COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS |
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GRANTS |
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GRANTID |
AGENCY |
COUNTRY |
MH55557 |
NIMH NIH HHS |
United States |
MH60324 |
NIMH NIH HHS |
United States |
MH62368 |
NIMH NIH HHS |
United States |
MH68521 |
NIMH NIH HHS |
United States |
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GENERAL NOTE |
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KEYWORDS |
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MESH HEADINGS |
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DESCRIPTORNAME |
QUALIFIERNAME |
Computer Simulation |
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Environment |
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Humans |
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Models, Biological |
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Twin Studies as Topic |
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Twins |
genetics |
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SUPPLEMENTARY MESH |
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GENE SYMBOLS |
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CHEMICALS |
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OTHER ID's |
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